Twenty Four Hours
by Jacksgirl217
Summary: Really, who is Cloud to Leon anyway? Not his lover; not really, and not his friend, certainly. How is it then, that Leon has come to fall so deeply and so helplessly in love with him? This is the story of two men, twenty four hours, a hospital, and love. This fic is rated for mature themes, adult situations abound. Please read with caution.
1. Twenty Four Hours

**A/N: **Well, Imma just leave this here and see what you guys think. Don't ask me where this thing came from…I…I'm not sure.

In any case, all I'll say is it contains some pretty strong material. Nothing graphic, but it does allude to some serious stuff. I hate warnings because they ruin surprises, and I want people to come to this with no idea of what will happen. So… If you read it and suddenly come across something that makes you go ewww, or no, no, no, no… then just hit the back button.

If there's anyone left at the end, please feel free to drop me a hello and tell me what you think.

For those of you that follow me on AO3 and Dreamwidth, there will be a bonus chapter up very shortly (After I've finished writing it!) including some very naughty bits and pieces that I left out of this story.

Also, I did have this all beautifully formatted and set out, then stupid went and fooked it up for me. God, I hate this site sometimes! So, if the endless spacing and short paragraphs do your head in like they do mine, I'm sorry. I really am.

**Disclaimer: **All characters, places and names belong to Square Enix and/or Disney. No infringement intended, no profit made.

* * *

**Twenty Four Hours **

Leon sat in the quiet dark of the hospital room, his silent vigil undisturbed. There were the sounds of a hospital ward around him. The clichéd beeping of heart monitors and clatter from bustling nurses. The odd rattle of an air vent kicked in every fifteen minutes, recycling the air in and out of the ICU, and the ring of the phone went off occasionally. But it was quiet in their room. The lights were dimmed and the blinds had been drawn and all of the sounds were muted behind glass and wood. Leon sat in the plastic chair; elbows on knees, hands clasped loosely together, head bent low. His silhouette was outlined by the faint light peeking in from behind the blinds that were drawn across the observation window and there was only a weak, insipid light coming from the over head lamp above the bed.

Leon listened to himself breathing. He kept his breaths slow and deep, counting the seconds in between each one to make sure they were nice and even. He had been doing this for the past half an hour - a task to keep himself calm. It was working for the most part. His clean white shirt was open at the neck, his tie stuffed into his trouser suit pocket, his top button undone. It was too hot in the side-room for his suit jacket, so he had hung it off the back of his chair. He opened his eyes and looked down at his polished, gleaming dress shoes, black laces neatly tied. Apart from his uncharacteristically rumpled shirt and missing tie, he was immaculate. Not a sign or a clue about him told of his frightening and harrowing ordeal.

Leon looked up through his chocolaty, choppy bangs; blue-grey eyes soft with concern and weariness and he let out a deep sigh. He sat back in the blue plastic chair, unforgiving on his worn out, aching body. If he was going to stay the night (and he most definitely was) then he needed a better chair he thought to himself.  
He stretched his long legs out before him, slightly arching his back and pushing his feet under the bed, the back of the chair flexing and giving slightly against his weight. Leon looked up at the clock that was quietly ticking away on the right hand side wall. Half past two in the morning.

He ran a hand raggedly down his face, feeling the beginnings of stubble emerging on his chin and then pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut against the tiredness that made them sting and itch. He felt a yawn coming on, but he fought it and supressed it.

In the bed directly opposite him, Cloud stirred.

Leon sat forward in his chair, immediately alert and attentive, he reached out and took the young man's lax fingers in hand and gave them a small squeeze, Leon's eyes never leaving Cloud's battered and bruised face.

Cloud stirred again, making soft sounds in the back of his throat, muffled by the oxygen mask over his face. Leon felt the fingers under his touch give a little flinch and instinctively they tried to curl round Leon's warm and reassuring grip. Leon let his thumb ghost over the back of Cloud's hand, just below where the cannula entered the vein, letting his soothing strokes just over the knuckles tell Cloud that he was with him.

Another set of soft moans escaped the young blond. Leon could see his Adams apple moving as he swallowed again and again, trying to clear his throat and eventually, Cloud's eyelids began to flutter. Leon leaned closer, sitting right to the edge of his seat, balancing his elbows on the edge of the bed. His right hand still soothed Cloud's twitching fingers and with his left, Leon reached up to brush away the blond bangs from the younger man's face; making sure to trace the ridge of his eye and cheek gently with the pad of his thumb. Leon was cautious to avoid the contusion on Cloud's temple and the split eyebrow, but he wouldn't let it stop him. He softly shushed the young man, brushing back more errant strands of honey blond hair made greasy and matted by days of neglect.  
Eventually, Cloud opened his eyes, his lids fluttering and flicking open and shut a few times, no doubt even the pallid light of the room a stark contrast to the darkness of his unconsciousness.

Leon felt the fingers curled around his own hand tighten, the grip conveying what Cloud could not say. He was scared.

"It's alright, Cloud." Leon whispered, keeping his voice low but steady and gentle.

Cloud turned his head at the sound, his eyes hazy and blurred; Leon knew his vision would be unseeing. "It's me. It's Leon." He told him, running a hand gently over Cloud's forehead.

Cloud's eyes slid shut again, his brows crinkling in confusion. He let out a groan that should have been a question but Leon had no hope of ever guessing what it was.

"It's okay. You're safe." Leon told him, wanting him to know straight off that he was out of danger. "You're in hospital. You're safe" he repeated still running the tip of his thumb over troubled brows and Cloud squeezed his eyes shut.

When the younger man opened them again they seemed to focus better and Leon smiled softly, his own brows crinkling slightly as his heart twisted uncomfortably in his chest. He had never seen anyone look so lost as he saw Cloud right in that moment. He hated it.

"Hey" Leon offered pathetically. "Can you hear me?" He asked; trying to gauge how much Cloud was taking in right at that moment.

A small squeeze of his hand and an almost imperceptible nod of his head was enough of an answer for Leon.  
"It's okay, don't fight it." He reassured, taking Cloud's other hand into his when the young man tried to pull his oxygen mask off. His movements were sluggish and wayward, nearly hitting himself in the face as his drug addled mind misjudged the distance. Leon's fingers closed around Cloud's hand, catching the pulse oximter probe and making the observation machine begin to alarm. He rested Cloud's hands on top of the young man's chest, calming him with more shushes and a gently reassuring squeeze.

"Everything's alright Cloud. Go back to sleep. I'll be here with you, I promise." Leon had no intentions of leaving.  
Cloud had ceased his powerless struggle to remove his mask and opened his eyes, his swimming vision settling on the brunette beside his bed. "I'll stay with you all night. I won't leave." Leon added going back to gently patting Cloud's hair. It seemed to calm him.

Cloud closed his eyes again, a small nod of the head telling Leon he understood.

Leon watched as Cloud fell asleep again, his breathing evening out, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.  
Leon re-attached the oximter probe to Cloud's finger, the monitor's beeping silenced once it picked up the blonde's pulse and oxygen levels once again.

Despite the situation and despite Cloud's obvious injuries, Leon was relieved. The nagging worry in the pit of his stomach had lessened to a slow churning and the tension in his shoulders abated slightly. The doctors had told him Cloud would be alright and the nurses that came and checked his observations reassured him that the doctors where telling the truth.

Now he had seen it, now Cloud had woken and proven himself okay, Leon felt a little better.

He hadn't wanted to believe that the young man wouldn't be. Truth be told, Leon reckoned it would have been his worst nightmare had things gone the other way. Had Cloud succumbed to unconsciousness and never woken, had he lost the battle to his numerous injuries, then Leon had no idea what he would be doing - falling apart probably.  
He had no right to, of course. Who was Cloud Strife to him? Not his boyfriend for certain. He wasn't even a lover, not really; he was barely even a friend. But Leon could no longer deny the immense importance that Cloud represented in his life.

How had it happened? How had he fallen so quickly and so suddenly in love with this impossible to love man?  
As he watched Cloud slip back in to the comfortable blackness of sleep, Leon sat back in his uncomfortable chair and ran a hand through his messy dark hair. He let out another sigh, this one light and wistful, yet troubled and deep.  
His life had taken a complicated and unexpected turn. It had happened in just less than three months and it was completely and unequivocally his entire fault.

Leon wasn't someone who generally had a huge amount of time for anyone. Out of design or circumstance, he hadn't really paid much attention to the wither-to's and the why-fors. That's just how his life was and always had been. He was a loner. Not anti-social just unsocial. His work took up most of his time. There had been no time for romance. No time for friends or family, not since his mother died. His father was just as busy as he was.  
For the longest time, Leon had thought he was abnormal. He had been so long without the slightest inkling for human contact that he thought himself incapable of the feeling. He hadn't realised that the aching dullness in the centre of his chest was the screaming absence of this exact need. The void had been there for so long, Leon had just assumed it was normal. Everyone went around with emptiness inside of them, didn't they?

How strange and unlike him it was then, to find himself driving down one of the more questionable neighbourhoods in Hollow Bastion, his lights dimmed low, looking for something that he had no name for. What was he doing here?  
He was tired, he told himself. His head had been swimming; he just needed a short ride to quiet his mind so that he could sleep. So why had he stopped? Why had he wound his window down and why had accepted the offer of a perfect stranger?

Had he known at that time that the stranger was a pro? Leon wanted to kid himself, no. His inner critic gave a smug and haughty guff.

They had driven in silence all the way back to Leon's apartment. A tense and awkward silence filled with the young man's finger tapping and Leon's taciturn frown.

"What's your name?" Leon had asked, thinking maybe this might be like the films and the young blond would answer "whatever you want it to be."

But Cloud would never be that cliché. Not then and not now. He had answered simply and directly, never breaking the rhythm of his fingers as they tapped his knees.

"Cloud. What's yours?" He had turned his head, bright blue eyes alighting on the dark driver of the silver Mercedes.  
Leon had considered this. He knew he would not give his real name. He never used his real name. It came with too many attachments and questions. Trouble was, would this Cloud recognise his nickname?

"Leon." He replied shortly, his long fingers gripping the leather of the steering wheel tighter, making it squeak.

"You're not gonna lock me in your basement and chop me up into little pieces, are you Leon?" The small, coy smile on Cloud's lips belied the serious tone of his question. It was meant to sound like a ridiculous notion but it occurred to Leon how likely this could have been. Cloud didn't know him from Adam. Leon obviously wasn't an axe wielding murderer with a perchance for hookers, but Cloud couldn't know that.

"Not today." He had replied, trying to relax and not seem like a brooding, maniacal sociopath. He had never been much good at acting.

It had begun to rain by the time they reached Leon's modest but impressive apartment. The raindrops glowed a murky tangerine in the light of the street lamps; the inky blackness of the cloudy sky an irony not lost on Leon.  
Cloud had whistled as they walked in through the front door, Leon flipping on the lights as they passed. He had watched the young man look about himself, turning on his heels around and around as he took in Leon's open plan home, hands in his hoodie, eyebrows raised at the impressive decor. "Nice!"

Leon had a horror filled, gut dropping, skin chilling moment of anxiety in that instant. What was he doing? He had a hooker in his living room! What, exactly, was he planning on doing with him? How the fuck had this happened?

"Are you alright?" Cloud had asked him.

What a ridiculous question. Leon must have looked pale because Cloud mentioned it.

"Are you sure you don't have a basement?" Cloud had laughed again, only slightly joking this time. Leon could tell.

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Leon found he had no idea what to say.

"You don't do this very often?"

"Ever."

"Never?"

Leon shook his head, deciding he should at least take his jacket off, maybe offer his guest a drink? Act normal!

"First time for everything, I guess." Cloud philosophised as he followed Leon up the short flight of stairs to the kitchen that overlooked the living area. "You have fucked a guy before though, right? I mean, this isn't your first time with that?" Cloud had asked so nonchalantly, Leon had almost dropped the wine glasses. He recovered himself enough despite Cloud's best efforts.

"Don't worry, I've done that...I mean, I'm not..." Leon had blushed quite uncontrollably. Most unlike him, and Cloud had chuckled; the sound of it quite pleasant and not as humiliating as Leon figured it should have been. He busied himself opening the bottle of wine as Cloud walked around the kitchen, idling to the window and looked out over the rain soaked city. It gave Leon the chance to observe the young man covertly. He was short, shorter than Leon in any case and he was young, Leon guessed maybe twenty one (Cloud would later confirm he was actually twenty three.) Slim hips led to a broad chest and strong, square shoulders with what looked to be just the right amount of muscle on them. Leon liked them lean, but not too skinny. If he wanted a girly figure, he would have been into girls.  
Despite Cloud's youthful appearance he was definitely all man. His dark, baritone voice helped. Leon had no idea if he was a blond or a brunette or a red head man, but Cloud's shocking blond spikey hair seemed nice enough to him. It suited the young man who seemed to still possess the innocence of youth, despite his occupation.

Leon moved to stand behind the young man, Cloud turning as he heard the other approach. "Wine?" Leon asked, holding out the glass.

"I don't drink." Cloud had said it in such a way that it made Leon hesitate for a moment. Had there been an edge to his tone? The slight shift of his face told Leon he had missed an emotion there.

"Never?"

"Ever!"

Yes there was something there. Leon, who was nothing if not a gentleman, decided he should probably forgo the wine. A pity, as he could have used the whole bottle at that point. He set the glasses aside and turned back to the young man, fingers wringing in front of him now they had nothing to hold, nothing to do.

"You're nervous?" Cloud had asked whimsically, his light hearted nature back after what ever had been with the wine had passed.

"Like I said, I don't normally do this sort of stuff." Leon shoved his hands into his pockets, sick of feeling like a fidgety lamb being toyed with by an amused lion.

Cloud took a few sultry steps toward him, making Leon back up a few of his own, his butt hitting the side of the island in the centre of the kitchen. The look on Cloud's face slipped from amused to serious in a few heartbeats. He stood in front of Leon, almost nose to nose but for the slight height difference; his breath mingling with the older man's. He placed his hands on the buckle of Leon's belt and stopped, watching Leon swallow thickly.

"How long have we got?" Cloud asked. The furrow of Leon's brow told him the older man didn't quite understand.

"How long do you want me here for? I go for the hour."

Leon's throat had closed up so completely at these words that it took him a few moments to get his own out. He coughed slightly before stuttering his reply. "I...ummm...all...all night. If...if you want?"

Cloud gave that coy little smile again and Leon's stomach did an uncomfortable little flip-flop.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" He began to undo Leon's trousers, slipping the buckle open and popping the button and slowly, ever so slowly sliding the zipper down.

"Telling you." Leon replied, voice a tight knot in his throat now. "I want you all night."

Cloud's eyes had slid from Leon's to the older man's lips. He was centimetres away. He leaned in a little closer, brushing the side of his nose against Leon's but he didn't kiss him. Not yet. Leon would have to lean in the rest of the way and do that. He was the one in control after all.

That kiss, although bought and paid for, had been something Leon had not expected. Nothing that sensual and intense should ever have been possible. It had been slow and fiery, hot and dizzying. He couldn't remember ever being kissed like that before. He was hard in seconds.

Pulling away, Cloud sank to his knees right there in the kitchen, tugging Leon's jeans down with him as he went. And all of Leon's nerves stood on end; he sucked in a breath and waited.

The sound of the side-room door opening made Leon jump and he sat forward in his chair, turning to see a nurse enter. She carried a ring binder and she gestured towards her patient like she had done the last two times she had been in here. "I've come to check on Mr Strife. May I take his observations?"

Leon nodded his head, forcing the shadows and memories from his mind.

The nurse approached the bed, strapping a cuff to Cloud's arm and fiddling with buttons on the machine. Leon waited patiently, noting how the cuff blew up, and then the machine counted down, the nurse placing her fingers against Cloud's radial pulse and watched her pocket watch. After a full minute she recorded her findings, waiting another minute as she counted his respirations.

"One hundred and twenty three over sixty eight." She confirmed to herself, writing it all down on her chart.

"Is that good?" Leon asked, leaning forward again.

"Good? It's better than mine!" The nurse replied, clicking her pen and putting it away in her top pocket. "All his vitals are good. Strong pulse. Steady temp. No sign of sepsis yet. His blood cultures should be back by morning and we'll know for certain by then but I think he'll be okay. He just needs to rest." She flipped the blood pressure cuff off and turned to regard the man in the chair, harrowed face softening at her words.

"He woke up." Leon informed her. "About ten minutes ago. I told him to go back to sleep." He nodded towards the bed and the sleeping patient.

"Well that's even better." The young nurse consoled, putting a comforting hand on Leon's shoulder as she passed. "Would you like me to find you a better chair, maybe some coffee?" She asked, squeezing the shoulder.

Leon merely nodded his head weakly in response, his gaze never leaving the pale, prone figure in the bed. "Thanks" he managed before the nurse shut the door on her way out.

* * *

The next time Leon opened his eyes it was morning. He couldn't remember falling asleep but his body ached with the awkwardness of his slumber. The nurse had found a slightly better chair, although, better didn't exactly equate to a king size memory foam mattress. Leon twisted his head, feeling the tightly knotted muscles pop. He threw his blanket off, given to him by the same nurse who must have felt very sorry for him. Leon stretched a little more, looking over to the bed to see Cloud staring back at him, bright blue eyes liquid pools of cerulean amongst the purples and blues and yellows of his beaten face. His large oxygen mask had been replaced by nasal cannulas, hooked over his ears and under his chin which only served to highlight the dry and split lips that Cloud licked nervously.

Cloud was lucid and bright, despite his obvious pain and Leon sat forward quickly to catch his hand and squeeze it, smiling in relief.

"Hey. How long have you been awake?" Leon asked noticing the sun filtering in through the blinds, dust motes dancing on the beams. He looked behind him at the clock on the wall at the foot of the room. It was half past eight.

"'Bout half an hour." Cloud croaked his voice hoarse and gravelly.

Leon reached over to the table next to the bed and poured a glass of water, standing to help Cloud drink it.  
The young blond drank quickly and greedily, choking and dribbling some.

"Steady." Leon admonished, swiping at the drips with his fingers.

The coughs caused Cloud to wince sharply, his face contorting with acute pain, bandaged hands gripping his ribs on his left side. The intensity of it took his breath away for a few moments and he was trapped in a vicious cycle of breathlessness and coughing.

Gradually, it subsided and he lay back against his pillows, shaking and tired once again.

"Want me to see if I can get you any pain killers?" Leon asked setting the glass aside.

Cloud shook his head, his hooded, heavy eyes lifting to look at the tall man standing over him so protectively. "No drugs" he managed to croak out.

Leon frowned, remembering well Cloud's aversion to any drug, even a simple pain killer. It had been one of the more curious things about the young man. Leon was no expert, but he had thought that a life on the streets and narcotics went hand in hand. Yet Cloud seemed to be the exception. Leon hadn't realised his reticence would stretch this far though. He was in pain. A lot of it!

"Are you serious? Cloud, you have three broken ribs there. One of them punctured your lung. I think it would be alright if you took something for the pain."

Cloud just merely shook his head, his colour turning a sickly grey even as they talked. "No." He argued weakly.

It could have been the lack of sleep, the worry and the knowledge of exactly what had been done to Cloud, but anger swelled up in Leon at the younger man's stubborn martyrdom. Leon had had to sit and watch over Cloud, knowing, fearing the worst. He wanted to make it better for the blond and instead of letting him, Cloud was refusing him.

"Dammit Cloud you don't have to put up with it you know. If you're in pain, let the nurses give you something for it." He had raised his voice and was trying with all his might not lose the last thread of his temper. Not with Cloud. Not now.

"No!" Came Cloud's stubborn answer, the energy it took to muster the vehemence behind it, clearly taking its toll on the beaten man. He closed his eyes, brows still furrowed in annoyance. "'S not that bad. Just stop fussing, Leon."  
Leon didn't think he was fussing, but he couldn't take the pained expression on Cloud's face much longer. Maybe if he slipped out and asked the nurse while Cloud was asleep?

Leon sighed heavily and sat down, taking Cloud's hand in his once again, careful to avoid the cannula and IV line attached to it. The nurse had said it was just normal saline running through it, to help with his dehydration. He had been without water for a long time.

"You need to allow these people to help you, Cloud." Leon said, his decision to go behind Cloud's back slipping away the more he thought about what Cloud had been through. Cloud had had enough control taken from him already. He didn't need Leon doing it as well.

"I just don't want any drugs, okay? I'm not even supposed to be here, Leon. You know I can't afford all this." Cloud swallowed with some difficulty. If he had the energy, Leon thought he might have gotten up and walked out right then and there. Such was Cloud's stubbornness.

"Cloud!" Leon warned darkly, his eyes narrowing. "If you even think about leaving this bed I'll chase you down and break some more of your ribs, you got me?"

Cloud had just enough energy to open his eyes and glare back. "I just want to go home. I don't need to be here." Cloud clearly had no idea just how serious his injuries were.

"I don't believe you sometimes, Cloud. You have three broken ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured wrist, and multiple contusions" Leon's face belied his harsh tone. He couldn't have looked more lost if he tried as he reeled off Cloud's list of extensive injuries. "Dehydration, internal bleeding. A god damned drain sticking out of your chest, not to mention..." he trailed off, his face, his demeanour, his whole body language regretting taking this line of conversation.

"Not to mention what, Leon?" Cloud pushed him. Knowing if he pushed him towards what he thought he was getting at, maybe he could make him uncomfortable enough to leave.

Leon pinched the binge of his nose again, scrubbing his tired face for good measure. "Not to mention what else they did to you." He finally finished. He looked down as his hands, hating that he felt he had no right to feel the way he did about Cloud's condition. He wasn't anything to the enigmatic young man. If anything he was part of the problem. People like him, people who paid for sex with people like Cloud. He thought maybe on the one hand, it might be a touch hypocritical of him to get moralistic. Then again, Leon could never do what these men had done. Not to anyone, under any circumstances.

At the end of the day, he cared about Cloud. He cared an awful lot, whether Cloud wanted him to or not. What those men had done to Cloud made Leon's blood boil. He couldn't get away from that and he was tired of denying his feelings.

"That was nothing." He heard Cloud reply in a small voice.

Leon looked up to see Cloud looking towards the blinds, his gaze far inward, and his eyes dark and jaded. He thought he looked tired before, but it was nothing to the utter exhaustion and bone wearied defeat he saw on the young man's face, the sight such a shocking and ugly counterpoint to the face he had remembered last night. That Cloud, only three months ago had still looked so young. This Cloud... This Cloud had been broken.

"That wasn't nothing, Cloud. How can you say that?" Leon's voice was soft and gentle, careful not to sound like he was accusing him of anything. There were long moments of silence as Cloud's jaw worked and his eyes misted, before they eventually dried up, not one single tear falling as he worked past the lump in his throat.

"It just doesn't, okay? Just drop it." Cloud replied bitterly, his voice shaky. He turned over as best he could, letting out a small puff of agony as he clutched tightly to his bandaged ribs. The conversation was over.

Within minutes, Cloud was asleep again, his soft breathing shallow and even. He had moved his hand out of Leon's reach and the older man sat with his hand still on the bed where Cloud had pulled away from him.

He had no right to feel so cut up about this, he told himself. Who was he to Cloud? Just another trick. He certainly wasn't his keeper. Leon had no right to be in there making demands of him. Still, Leon couldn't bring himself to walk away. He knew he wouldn't, not until Cloud told him to and even then, maybe he still wouldn't.

From where Leon sat beside the bed, Cloud turned away from him, the flimsy hospital gown open, Leon could see the faded scars that lined the young man's back. They criss-crossed and met in raised, puckered white lines and Leon was instantly reminded of the first time he had seen them, his surprise and distress evident. Cloud had not been happy he had drawn such attention to them; his other tricks probably didn't bother to ask him about them.  
It had been back on that first night, with the rain and thunder rumbling overhead. Leon and Cloud had fucked and Leon hadn't realised exactly how much he had missed the simple thrill of it. How had he gone so long without it? His last fling had been in college, another blond filling the role of sexual reliever. Seifer had been an arrogant arsehole but for some reason Leon had liked that. They were still friends even now.

With the exhausting relief of pleasure, Leon had rolled off and was catching his breath, pushing sweaty hair from his flushed face. He looked over as Cloud sat up, flinging his legs over the side of the bed, shoulders curved and his back exposed to him. Leon hadn't realised he had let out a soft curse word, his left hand darting out to trace the scars that were glittering with Cloud's perspiration. Cloud turned to look down over his shoulder at the brunette softly scowling at his back. He felt the young man shudder slightly and pull away.

"What happened?" Leon sat up, the covers pooling around his waist. He saw broad shoulders tense ever so slightly and Cloud's head hang just a little bit lower. He reached out again only to have Cloud stand abruptly, more scars visible across his buttocks and the backs of his legs. Cloud had walked away; disappearing into the bathroom to shower and Leon had known he should never bring it up again. After all, he didn't pay Cloud for his life story.  
As the weeks had gone on and feelings had shifted, it began to get harder to keep the silent rules becoming more concrete between them. Leon didn't want Cloud to disappear but he wondered how long he could go on just fucking him. He needed more.

"Someone did this to you." It wasn't a question but a statement that Leon had uttered one day. He was stood behind the blond, who was busy cooking in the kitchen; a little ritual they had gotten into after some initial fucking, the rest of the night stretched out before them. Leon had lifted up the hem of Cloud's t-shirt and traced a thin ribbon of scar tissue down his back. He had felt Cloud tense once again, putting the spatula to one side and turning around half way to look at Leon over his shoulder. He had pierced him with a chilly look. "That's none of your business." His tone flat and unyielding.

Maybe he had been right. It really was none of his business.

Leon sighed heavily, taking his opportunity now that Cloud was asleep again to go and find the doctor and see if a few of those test results had come back yet. He left Cloud alone and went in search of Doctor Morton.

* * *

He found the doctor hovering around the nurses' station, flipping through a file. Doctor Morton was a middle aged man, with a bald head and round glasses that sat on his roman nose. He was a little shorter than Leon but his manner was professional and sincere.

"Doctor Morton, I'd like a word with you, if I may?" Leon's tone was authoritative but polite; his work tone his father had called it.

Morton looked up from his reading and smiled at the young man, looking over the rim of his glasses as he approached.

"Certainly, I've been meaning to catch you this morning actually. Follow me please."

Morton led him into a consulting room, the simple observation bed covered in blue roll and the small clinical area unoccupied as Leon shut the door behind them.

"I wondered if any of Cloud's tests were back yet. He's awake now, which is good." Leon began, choosing a seat and sitting down, the doctor doing the same.

Morton nodded, pulling in a deep breath and bracing his hands on his knees. Leon thought he looked like he was about to reveal something very serious.

"Yes, that's good to hear." He agreed his face grave. "Has anyone had the chance to speak to you about Cloud or his injuries?" Morton's face had shifted from serious to concerned, a professional trick, mastered over years of giving bad news. Leon's heart gave a little leap.

"Nothing new really. Only what you told me last night. The general gist of things. Why?" Leon rubbed the palms of his hands on his knees, noticing they were clammy.

"All of his test results are back. His blood work is fine, there's no sepsis which is great. On your request we completed a full body mapping, this included a full body MRI scan, head, neck and chest CT, chest x-rays and full blood work up."

Leon nodded, remembering through the haze of his panic and fear from the night before when the doctors had told him what they were going to do as they wheeled Cloud away from him, his bloody, prone body getting further and further away as it disappeared through the doors of the ER.

"I would have liked to have completed a colonoscopy and/or a laparoscopy, but I need the patients consent for both of those as they are not emergency procedures."

Leon shook his head, knowing full well the chances of getting Cloud to agree to any of that were next to zero.  
"He'll never agree to that. He won't even take headache tablets. The likelihood of him letting you knock him out completely is about a cat in hells chance."

Morton nodded in understanding. "All right then, we'll just have to go with what we've got." He rubbed his brow and took a few moments to organise his thoughts before levelling Leon with his unwavering sympathetic stare. "We both know Cloud has been through a major trauma."

Leon nodded.

"His MRI and chest CT, not to mention his chest x-ray showed broken ribs, and a punctured lung. From this he developed a pneumothorax which required the chest drain. This has worked very well and we are quite hopeful that his respiratory problems will be resolved quickly. However…" Morton stopped, his hesitation causing Leon's heart to flutter. He had hoped that there would be no complications from this, that Cloud's youth would mean he bounced back quickly and strongly. Maybe he wouldn't. Maybe this was all far more serious than he had thought. "I saw on his chest x-ray and more clearly on his MRI some shadowing on his lungs."

Leon's blood froze. "Shadowing?" He managed to croak out.

"At first I thought we might have been dealing with a malignancy. The dark spots are quite extensive however and I wanted a second opinion." Morton pushed his glasses back up his nose and continued. "I asked our consultant radiologist to have a look at the images and he assures me we are not dealing with any kind of malignancy."  
"So it's not cancer?" Leon asked, just to make sure. Morton shook his head. "So what is it?" Leon's heart was still pounding, his blood racing in his ears despite this brief relief.

"The radiologist seems to think that it's some sort of scaring."

Leon's brow furrowed his confusion evident. "Scaring? From what?"

"He couldn't tell unfortunately. However, this type of scaring is common amongst people exposed to some different types of chemicals, maybe even asbestos. He's seen it in patients who've had polio as a child. Do you know if Cloud falls under any of these categories?"

Leon hated to admit it, but he didn't know Cloud nearly well enough to answer that question.

"I... I don't know. Maybe...no...I'm sorry." He shook his head, trying with everything in him to process this new information as quickly as possible.

"Well, it's something to think about maybe asking him, if you think he wouldn't mind?"

Leon nodded, fully intending to question Cloud about this as soon as he could.

"One more thing." The doctors voice stopping Leon in his tracks as he was about to get up and leave. "I had wanted to perform a colonoscopy to investigate the lacerations to Cloud's bowels. The MRI only showed up so much and I suspected further damage higher up."

Leon's confusion was complete now as he settled back down silently encouraging the doctor to continue. "What do you mean?"

"The MRI proved inconclusive in the sense that we just couldn't see if there was any new damage."

'New damage?" Leon asked, picking up immediately on Morton's inference.

"There was simply just too much scar tissue to see." The doctor said; his face grave. "I would hazard a guess that maybe this is not the first time Cloud has been assaulted in this manner."

In the space of just a few moments, Leon's heart was back to being lodged in his throat. He felt sick. Well and truly, god awfully, sick to his stomach. "Are you sure?" He managed to ask, pushing past the nausea and the sudden intense fear. Leon had never experienced true horror before.

"Fairly certain, yes." Morton said; his eyes full of sympathy and understanding.

"When? H...how long ago, I mean... do you... can you tell?"

Morton shook his head. "Not without that colonoscopy. And even then, I don't know if I'd be able to give a definite answer."

Leon had to swallow hard.

"Is he in any danger? Does this change anything about his prognosis?"

Morton shook his head. "No, this is just something which further exploratory tests have thrown up. His recovery will not be affected. However, I'd like to keep him in for as long as possible to keep an eye on him. Without these further tests, and these inconclusive MRI scans, it's just guess work at best. He could very well have major contusions that could rupture. On the other hand, he could be perfectly fine."

Leon nodded his head. He would keep Cloud here. He'd tie him down himself if he had to.

"Thank you, doctor." Leon said, standing and leaving the room in a manner he hoped was not too rude. Leon rushed to the visitor's bathroom, not even stopping to make sure there was no one else in the stalls before emptying the contents of his stomach into the nearest toilet.

* * *

"What do I do, Seifer?" Leon asked forlornly, his head in his hands as he sat in the main waiting room of the hospital.

In his moment of horror and fear, he had not known who to call, feeling utterly and completely lost for the first time in his adult life. His one and only true friend sat next to him, sympathy evident as he rested his hand on Leon's back and began to rub reassuring circles.

"I think if it were me, there's only one thing you can do." Seifer's deep baritone was comforting and strong and exactly what Leon needed to hear right then. The hustle and buzz of the main reception was a welcome hum in his ears as he tried to drown out the echoes of the conversation he had just had with Doctor Morton.

"Which is?" He asked, needing to be told exactly what to do. In all of his twenty five years, Leon had never needed that. He was too much like his mother in that respect, his father had told him. But now he found himself completely adrift, lost in a sea of hurt and fear. He wanted desperately to be there for Cloud. But he knew that it was more than possible that couldn't happen. Who was he to Cloud after all?

"Tell him you know. Ask him what happened." Seifer said.

Leon sat up and gave him an 'are you crazy?' look and Seifer held up his hands, his fingers spread in supplication. "Look, as far as I see it, you've nothing to lose. Tell him how you feel. Tell him you love him."

This time Leon didn't just stop with the look. "Are you crazy?" He asked.

"He can only tell you to get lost, Leon. From what I understand of the situation, that's exactly what he'd be saying any way. He might change his mind if he knew how you felt. Who knows, he might love you back."

Not many had the privilege of knowing Seifer Almasy all that well, but those who did knew about his romantic streak. Those people being him and Leon.

Leon rolled his eyes, knowing all too well that maybe this was just that very same romantic streak running away with his friend.

"You're wetter than a fishes wet bits, you know that Almasy?" Leon sighed, exasperated. Despite himself, he felt a little better. Seifer had always been able to do that for him.

"Either way, you have to go and talk to him. Whether he likes it or not, you know now. You can't hide that from him." Seifer had a point. Damn it, Seifer always had a point. Know it all bastard.

Leon nodded his face grave with foreboding but oddly determined. Once Leon made up his mind, regardless of how unsavoury that decision was, he usually carried through with it. That was one of the things Seifer loved about him - always had. That strength.

"I'll have to do it now; otherwise I might not be able to." Leon said, eyeing the main doors, a look in his eye that conveyed exactly how badly he wanted to be on the other side of them.

"Want me to wait here for you?" Seifer, always the knight in shining armour. Leon shook his head. If this went the way he thought it would, then he was going to be up there a long time.

"I'll be fine. Thanks Seifer." He gave his friend a soft smile. "Sorry I dragged you out here."  
"And miss a front row seat to the whirly gig of fun that is your life?" Despite the situation, Seifer's sarcasm was appreciated.

When Leon gave a small chuckle, Seifer's amused smile faded and he was suddenly serious once again.  
"You know, anyone would be lucky to have you, Leon. You're an amazing man. Don't ever forget that." Seifer, displaying a rare moment of tender sincerity, pulled his friend and one time lover into a half hug and kissed him on the temple.

Leon's heart gave an uncomfortable flutter at the compliment, but allowed his friend the gesture. He loved him too much to deny him anything.

"Call me if you need me." Seifer said; standing and leaving his friend in the clamouring, chaotic buzz of the hospital.

* * *

Leon was a mixture of surprised and fearful to find Cloud awake when he re-entered the sideward a little while later. He was surprised because the young man was sat on the edge of the bed; bare feet planted on the forest green linoleum floor, his various tubes and wires hanging off him as he fought with his tangled hospital gown. Fearful because he now had to have the conversation he had been dreading. "What the hell are you doing?" Leon demanded softly, shutting the door behind him and rushing to the bedside.

Cloud's face was grey and pallid but set in a determined grimace as he held his injured ribs, chest drain swinging from the bed, IV lines tangled around his arms. "I just want to get out of fucking bed!"

"So you can go where, exactly?" Leon asked; his annoyance and frustration over taking everything else for the moment. "You may not have noticed this Cloud, but you're in the middle of the ICU with a tube sticking out of your god damned lungs. Where exactly are you gonna go?"

Cloud reached forward, his hands trembling with the effort and he tried to steady himself against his locker, making an attempt to stand on his wobbly legs. He stumbled before he had even really tested his full weight; falling back against the bed and into Leon's arms.

"Cloud! For fuck sake, just stop will you?" Leon was almost shouting now. He didn't want to, but if he had to, he'd wrestle that man back into that bed and sit on him until he stopped fighting. He didn't have to. Cloud sat still, panting with his obvious exhaustion, small beads of perspiration standing out along his brow and upper lip. His eyes were closed, his brow crinkled in pain.

"I... I just..." he tried, not able to talk past his discomfort and breathlessness.

A few more long moments passed as he settled and tried to get his breath back. "I just wanted a shower. I still have blood on me." He finally managed voice strained and weary from agony. Leon sighed wearily too. He didn't know exactly how long it had been since Cloud had last seen the inside of a shower, but he had to guess it had been well over a week.

"Maybe we can get a nurse to help you or something then." He suggested; his voice much softer now. He heard Cloud sigh heavily, his shoulders going lax as he seemed to give in to something.

"Just forget it; I shouldn't even be here anyway. I can't believe you bought me to a hospital when you know I can't afford to pay for any of this. What am I going to do now, huh?" Cloud's pained words were punctuated by his harsh, ragged breathing. Although his manner was that of someone worn out and exhausted, Leon knew full well how quickly Cloud could turn, if he had to.

"I told you not to worry about that. I'm taking care of it." Leon replied, just as exasperated with the constant battling. This was not going at all the way he had wanted it to.

"Huh, yeah I forgot. You just turn up and wave your cash about and all your problems go away." Cloud's snide tone kicked Leon in the gut. He had to remind himself that Cloud was in pain and that people said hurtful things when they were in pain.

"That's not true Cloud. I've never treated you like that." Leon was telling the truth - to some extent anyway. He always made it a point to try and be as discreet as he possibly could when it came to money. It helped him live the kind of life he preferred.

"No? That nurse told me who was paying for my treatment. She also told me exactly how much that was. And let's not forget you paid nearly six thousand munnies to Don Corneo for my release. So don't try and tell me you don't just throw your money at problems to make them go away." The venom in Cloud's tone was undeniable and it made Leon wonder if now was such a good time to be doing any of this. Maybe he should just let Cloud go?

"The nurse told me your name." Cloud added, looking up at the tall brunette through angry, guarded eyes.

They had known each other a grand total of three months and in that time Leon had come to fall in love with a man who was so guarded and hostile, so secretive and prickly that he wondered if it was really love at all. Could you fall in love with someone you didn't really know? And in all that time, Leon had never lied to Cloud. Agreed, they had some unspoken ground rules that neither of them had broken; for one, Leon was never to ask about Cloud's personal history, meetings were solely for the purpose of fucking. And Cloud never once asked Leon anything about himself. Not even his last name. Not even his real first name. Leon had always been Leon to him. He hadn't needed to know anything else about him.

"So who are you really?" Cloud asked; his tone hot and prickly. It wasn't even like he really had a right to be this pissed off. This had been their agreement. Leon had kept his side of the bargain.

"I thought the nurse told you." Leon replied, stepping away from the blond and turning to pick up his discarded suit jacket. He had a feeling he would be leaving soon.

"I want to hear it from you." Cloud had a tone about him that implied he would be displeased with the answer no matter what it was. Leon figured he truly had nothing else to loose. He sighed again. This was it, no more putting it off.

"My name is Squall Leonhart. People call me Leon because I ask them to. I hate people recognising me." He explained turning to look at Cloud who sat looking at him like he hated him. Truly, Leon had no idea why Cloud should be so angry with him. He was only trying to help after all. Was money really such an issue?

"Squall Leonhart? As in Loire & Leonhart Enterprises?" Cloud asked, knowing the answer anyway. Leon nodded.  
"As in Loire & Leonhart Enterprises, the multibillion munnies mergers corporation?" Another nod from the suddenly silent brunette. He hated it when people spelled his wealth out to him. He often wondered how other people felt, knowing they were stood in the same room as a billionaire. If it was anything like Leon felt, then it was slightly embarrassed. His money had always made him uncomfortable.

"My father and I own the business. I never wanted to make a big deal out of it, Cloud." Leon said honestly when Cloud had been silent for a little bit too long. Truth be told, the young man looked like he was going to throw up or pass out. Of the two options, Leon hoped for the latter.

"All this time..." Cloud said vaguely, his memory turned far inwards thinking of all the times they had been together and Cloud hadn't known. Hadn't known he was fucking a billionaire. "That's why it wasn't a problem paying Don Corneo's money. That's why it isn't a problem paying for all this." Cloud observed, waving his hand about. "Fuck! You could probably _build_ yourself a hospital if you wanted to."

"What was I supposed to do, Cloud? Leave you with Don Corneo?" Leon asked, taking a step towards the young man, finally sick of feeling ashamed for trying to help. For wanting to help!

"There was no way in hell I was going to leave you there with those men another second longer than I had to. And as for 'all this'?" He said, mocking Cloud's tone, waving his hand about "you think I give a shit if you're too proud to accept my help? You would have died, Cloud! You think I was going to let that happen because I didn't want to offend your sensibilities with my money? Fuck you!" Leon's chest was heaving with pent up emotion and he realised he was shouting but he didn't care. He was too tired and too wrung out and too frightened to care. This ended today. One way or another.

"You've got some nerve preaching to me about secrets and lies. I never lied to you, Cloud. You never asked me who I was. I would have told you." Leon's voice was low and deadly now. He was getting to the heart of his problem. "But you! Who are you, Cloud? Where do you come from? What are those scars on your back, huh? I asked you about them and you told me to fuck off! Don't you think that before you start throwing around accusations like that, you should take a good long look in the mirror?"

Cloud's eyes had cut away to stare hard unforgiving daggers at the floor. Leon knew he had him. He couldn't wriggle out of that one.

"Well, Cloud?" Leon needled him "are you finally going to be honest with me?"

There was an intense silence that followed, filled with harsh angry breathing from Leon as he desperately tried to calm himself. Cloud sat as still as an ice statue, his face cold and impassive, dark and thunderous.

"Why should I tell you anything?" He asked slowly and full of malice. Leon felt that in that moment, Cloud truly hated him, and he had never felt more heart broken. How could he have thought this would have a happy ending? How could he have thought Cloud could ever return his feelings? He was a fool. A fool with nothing to lose.

"Because I love you, you fucking idiot!" Leon admitted slowly, all his heartache and pain vocalised in this one admission.

Cloud looked up at him then, whatever he had been about to say clearly forgotten. His eyes held nothing but shock and Leon could tell he was fighting with anger and disbelief.

"What?" Cloud managed to mouth, eyebrows crinkling in confusion. "What did you just say?"

Leon looked away to the window, never more embarrassed and uncomfortable as he was at that exact moment. Why did Cloud have to make him say it again?

"I said, because I love you, you fucking idiot!" Leon's voice was strained and tight with anger and awkwardness. It had been such a long and emotional night. And now this - this rejection. "You have no idea how hard it's been for me to sit and watch you and be close to you and know nothing about you. I know what those men did to you!" Leon looked at Cloud whose face had moved to thunderous rage. "I've been so fucking worried about you, Cloud. I thought you were going to die!"

Leon's breath hitched and he had to stop, unable to carry on talking after vocalising such an agonising thought. He turned away from the blond on the bed, not wanting to stay a moment longer and hear Cloud reject him. It was written all over the young man's face. He moved across the room towards the door.

"So you think you can just barge in here and start ordering me about and telling me what to do like you're still paying me?" Cloud asked coolly.

Leon knew Cloud was twisting this. He'd just told him he loved him for fuck sake. As if any of this had to do with money any more.

"You know damned well that's not what's going on here. I don't own you, Cloud. I've never told you what to do!"

"Too fucking right you don't own me!" Cloud shouted back, anger was such a convenient cover for the fear and uncertainty that Leon's words had caused in him.

"No, I love you, Cloud. Fuck knows why, but I do. And I know that this isn't the best situation to be in; that I've got no right to demand anything from you..."

"No, you don't." Cloud yelled, trying to stand once again. "You don't have the right to demand anything. You pay me to have sex with you. That's all, Leon. Who the fuck do you think you are? I don't give a shit how much money you've got, that doesn't mean you can stand there and ask about my life, my childhood. What fucking business is it of yours who beat me or who fucked me?"

Leon's intense, angry gaze met Cloud's blazing face as they locked eyes across the room, before Cloud had realised that he had let something slip, Leon saw a hint of the truth written there.

"Who beat you? Who fucked you?" Leon asked, watching as Cloud realised he had said too much.

"That's none of your business." Cloud growled, steadying himself with the locker as he wobbled slightly, physically thrown off guard.

"I'm getting tired of hearing that bullshit, Cloud. I don't care if you don't think it's my business. I want to know!" Leon was tired. He was tired of putting himself out there and getting knocked back, tired of being avoided and out right lied to and tired of feeling like he wasn't good enough. He didn't care if he had a right any more. Cloud owed him some sort of an explanation.

"What part of 'it's none of your business' don't you understand? Why do you want to know this shit for anyway? Why is it important for you to know about some guy my fucking drunk of a mother brought home?" Beneath Cloud's obvious rage, his face had begun to pale. Either from the exhaustion of standing or from fighting, Leon didn't know. Probably both.

"Is that who did that to you?" Leon asked, nodding his head, gesturing to Cloud's back.

There was a deep and intense silence from the blond as he regarded Leon from across the room. Leon had no idea what was going on in his head.

"Is that who hurt you? Some guy your mom brought home?" Leon asked again, determined not to let this go.

At his words, Cloud seemed to deflate, his anger fizzling away as he let himself stumble back to sit on the bed. "You make it sound so fucking clichéd." The blond mumbled; initial anger all but gone, though his bitterness remained.  
Leon's anger was subsiding too; he was getting closer to the truth now. Any moment, he was sure Cloud would open up.

"Tell me, please Cloud." He begged, taking a step closer.

"What is there to say, Leon?" Cloud sounded so defeated now, such a contrast from his earlier rage.

"How about the truth?" Leon asked, not truly angry now, just tired and emotional and drained of everything. He moved back into the room, inching closer to the bed.

"The truth?" Cloud asked; his tone low and bitter. "You want to know the truth? Which part first?" Cloud unconsciously rubbed his good hand up and down his arm, an attempt to sooth himself. "The part where he was devious enough to wait until my mom had passed out from drinking or the part where after my mom died, he didn't have to sneak around anymore and he could just fuck me whenever he wanted?"

Leon froze, his worst assumptions coming true right before him. Really, what had he expected? The admission made Leon weak at the knees and he sat heavily in the chair by the bed, all strength gone from his legs.

"I couldn't... I couldn't stop him." Cloud's voice, his whole demeanour had shrunk. "I had... to find a way to...to live with it." Cloud's voice had become small and emotionless, though a tiny tremor was still evident; his eyes dry as they stared unseeing ahead, looking deep into his past. "I provoked him. I thought if I made him mad, it meant that I deserved it. I... I could live with that." Cloud nodded to himself, as if to affirm to himself that he had done what he had to survive, a cold comfort now.

A tear slipped from Leon's eye, silently, so as not to interrupt.

"He used his belt a lot... locked me in the bathroom..." Leon could see Cloud's fractured mind falling over the pieces of memories. Fragments of pain. Memories that Leon had forced out of him.

"He'd make me stand over a bucket of bleach... breathe in the fumes until I passed out. Sometimes... I'd have to drink it if I didn't pass out quick enough."

Leon had a sudden and clear recollection of the conversation he'd had with Doctor Morton, suggestions of chemicals and mentions of scarred lungs. Too much scar tissue, Morton had said. No fucking shit, oh holy fucking Hyne!

"I... I put up with it as long as I could, but I..." there was a long and hollow silence as Leon wondered if Cloud would continue or if he should say anything. What would he say?

"I came to Hollow Bastion thinking I could start again - pretend like none of it had happened. I was so stupid." Cloud shook his head slowly, bitterness and regret evident in the way his shoulders drooped. "I started turning tricks about six months after I got here."

Leon scrubbed at his eyes, they were red and puffy and uncomfortable; his face tight from the salty tears.

"And here I am - a complete and utter fucking waster. Pathetic." Cloud turned his haunted eyes on Leon and the older man wished he hadn't. "You shouldn't love me, Leon."

There was silence for the longest time. Leon could neither find the words to explain his horror and sadness, nor find the energy to express them. Why had he wanted to know so badly?

Cloud sat silent and motionless, his confession had sucked the last of everything from him. He sat and waited for Leon to leave him.

After what felt like hours of torture and silent judgement, Cloud finally felt Leon's gaze come to rest on him. He couldn't look him in the eye.

Out of the corner of his peripheral vision, he saw the older man's hand reach for his arm, tugging at his broken wrist. The cast on it prevented Leon from holding the hand properly, but he grasped the fingers anyway.  
"Cloud, look at me." Leon demanded softly.

Tentatively, his gaze filled with shame and self-loathing, Cloud turned to Leon.

The older man looked at him, his watery grey eyes intense and searching. They were filled with something that Cloud couldn't place. Maybe it was because the only thing he expected to find in that look was disgust?

Leon stood, his tall frame towering over the blond on the bed and he moved a little closer, placing himself directly in front of Cloud. He let go of the younger man's hand and instead cupped his cheek, tilting his chin until the angle of his face was pointed up towards him and Cloud was looking at him. Leon brought his other hand up, stroking the other side of the blonde's face, framing it between his ever so slightly trembling hands. He gently traced the high cheek bones and strong jaw and saw apprehension in Cloud's beautiful eyes.

"I can't make what happened disappear." He finally whispered his voice husky and quiet. "I can't make all that go away. No matter how much money I have." He said being careful to avoid the bruises and the cuts as he reverently held Cloud's face. "I just want you. And I promise…" he swallowed, fighting down the huge swell of emotion that had erupted in his chest "if you let me, I'll look after you. And I promise I'll never, ever hurt you. And I'll never let anyone else hurt you. Ever again." He added, thumbing a bruise on Cloud's jaw. "This doesn't change anything, Cloud. I still love you."

Cloud's almost emotionless mask crumbled at these last uttered words and he had to look away. He looked down and held his tired, beaten and ashamed face in his one good hand and cried.

* * *

Leon sat behind his desk, the lamp throwing a warm light over the few papers and documents scattered in front of him, his computer was off, it was late at night and he sat, deep in thought.

He had left Cloud at the hospital only a short while ago, pleading with him to finally get some sleep. It had been a long and tiring day.

Leon looked at the picture on his desk. It was an old one, but it had sat there for the best part of five years. His mother smiled out at him. It had been taken long before her cancer had taken her and Leon thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He remembered bits about her, but that's all they seemed to be these days; just bits and pieces, fragments of a childhood that couldn't have been more privileged or perfect. A far cry from Cloud's childhood.

When his mother had died, Leon had felt like the world was so unfair. He felt cheated. He had spent so long being angry with everyone, especially his father. How could he have been so myopic?

His life, the death of his mother not-withstanding, had been so completely charmed. There was nothing he had ever wanted for, then or now. He was a fucking billionaire for crying out loud! How could he sit and complain about his life when Cloud had lived through his?

They had both lost their mother, which was something he could relate to, but that was where the similarities ended.  
Leon felt the now familiar stirrings of outrage and horror as he recalled his conversations with Cloud from earlier in the day.

He had helped the exhausted younger man back into bed, straightening his hospital gown and bed sheets, making sure all the wires and tubes were out of the way. He had climbed up next to the blond, threading his fingers through Cloud's good hand that rested on his stomach. Leon's head propped up on his left hand so that he could see Cloud, could watch his face.

"It's why you don't drink, isn't it?" He had asked, squeezing ever so slightly on his fingers. "It's why you won't even take pain killers." Cloud didn't really need to answer. His tired face was turned toward the window, his eyes heavy and hooded.

"I was the one who found her." He had whispered; his voice scratchy from crying. "I got home from school. She was just there, lying on the floor. Dead."

Leon's heart gave another uncomfortable twist. Just another in a long line of heart rending moments that was turning into a day from hell.

"It was the drinking. I know it was. No one ever told me exactly what happened, but I knew. And I swore to myself I'd never drink. I never take anything." Cloud's speech had begun to slur from tiredness, his eyes drooping every now and again as he continued to gaze out of the window.

Leon lay next to him and watched him. Content with the quietness and the peace. After a while, a thought occurred to him.

"What were you doing getting mixed up with Don Corneo if you have nothing to do with drugs?" He had asked softly.

Cloud turned to look at Leon, his gaze tired and lacking any fire.

"Roxas." He replied simply. "He owed them money. When they came looking for him I told them I didn't know where he was." Cloud explained; the where-abouts of his roommate still unknown.

"They took me instead. Ransacked the apartment and found my money. They said it wasn't enough and they were gonna keep hold of me until Roxas showed up or I came up with more money."

Leon's brow had furrowed, his hand that had been laced in-between Cloud's fingers came up to cup Cloud's jaw. He reached down and planted a soft kiss to the blonde's forehead.

"It took me so long to save that money. They just took it!" Cloud had exclaimed, obviously anguished. "All my life, people have been fucking me over. That money was mine. It made it all worth it." Cloud's face had been a mixture of pain and murder "I was going to get my own place. Maybe go back to school." He finished, turning his face into the crook of Leon's neck, completely despaired.

"What made you call me?" Leon asked, wondering not for the first time what had made the blond think of him when the gangsters had given him one phone call - one phone call to beg for more money. Cloud hadn't used that call to ask for money, of course. He had rung Leon, begging him to find Roxas and keep him safe.

"You were the only other person I trusted." was Cloud's simple reply. He couldn't have known at the time that Leon would have tracked him down and bargained with Corneo. He couldn't have known that Leon would have paid all that money. He never expected Leon to do any of that for him. Cloud had fully expected to die. Held there in that rundown motel, waiting for the men who held him to get tired of him and finally slit his throat. Just one more dead hooker.

Cloud had fallen asleep not long after that. Leon had promised him he would be back by morning. He had some things to do first, but he would stay with him until he fell asleep.

Leon picked up the phone and cradled the receiver against his ear, dialling a number he knew well. He waited a couple of rings before the other person picked up.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice asked on the other end.

"Laguna?" Leon asked, already knowing it would be his father.

"Squall? What are you calling for at this hour?"

Leon looked at the digital clock on his desk. It was only just after midnight. Not late by Leon's standards.

"I need a favour." He cut to the chase. He and his father had never really minced words. Their relationship a lot better nowadays than it had been when Leon was a moody, sulking teenager. "I need that number." He said cryptically.

"Number?" Laguna asked, clearly puzzled.

"We have people, don't we?" Leon said it more like a statement than a question. "People who can sort things. People who we're not supposed to know about. Who I'm not supposed to know about."

Leon knew damned well that you didn't become head of a multibillion munnie mergers and acquisitions company without getting your hands dirty. He knew Laguna had people that would take care of whatever he needed them to. Discretion guaranteed.

"What's this about, son?" Laguna asked, sleep forgotten, his tone clearly alert and concerned.

"I just... I need that number. I can't tell you what it's about. I'm sorry dad." Leon hardly ever called his father that, maybe it might help, he thought.

"Squall, if you're in trouble..."

"I'm not, I promise. I just need something sorting. Please, dad." He knew he'd won by the silence on the other end of the phone.

"Fine, just promise me that whatever this is, it won't come back on you." Laguna, although a goofy and difficult man to live with, knew when to keep his nose out. It was one of the reasons they could get along so well these days. A hard learned lesson for Laguna though. Leon hadn't made it easy on him growing up.

"I promise. Thanks dad." That was three times in under a minute. If he wasn't careful, Leon was going to make a habit of this!

Hanging up, Leon waited a few moments, before dialling again. After two rings the dial tone stopped and a male voice answered. "Hello?"

Leon let out the breath he hadn't even realised he was holding and replied.

"I need something sorting."

* * *

~&~Epilogue~&~

"For Hyne's sake, Leon. I'm not made of glass, I won't break you know." Cloud's voice was hushed but stern. He was trying to be quiet, but his annoyance was getting the better of him.

They had travelled to Fisherman's Horizon, where Leon's sister, Ellone and her husband had a very large, very expensive looking summer house right on the harbour. It had been a strange but not uncomfortable drive. Meeting Leon's family should have been one of the most stressful and nerve-wracking moments in Cloud's life. However, as it turned out, Ellone had a knack for making people feel right at home. Her two kids helped.

"Here, you take her. I'm no good with them." Leon had said to him as he passed a small baby into Cloud's arms, the look of shock and unbridled fear on Cloud's face not unnoticed by Leon. He had not time to refuse however, as Leon walked off, following his sister out onto the terrace as she had shown them around her newly refurbished mansion. Cloud followed closely behind, hoping to catch Leon's eye, Ellone's eye, anyone's eye, so he could give the quietly fussing kid in his arms back over to someone. No such luck. It had been a good fifteen minutes, traipsing round the extensive gardens and patios, back up to the house and through the elaborate halls and wood decked dining rooms (two of them) before Cloud noticed he had another tag along. He had looked down to see a small girl, thumb wedged into her mouth, hiding behind the material of his cargo pants. She had looked up at him, eyes huge and round and completely unquestioning in the way only children can do, the spitting image of her mother.

"Hi." Cloud had said, not quite sure what the protocol was for introducing oneself to a three year old. He needn't have worried. She giggled and smiled a gappy, toothy grin around her thumb and continued to swing on his trouser leg. Introductions made, they had carried on the grand tour.

After dinner and talk of business and family and backstories and the latest news had been put aside, they had all sat out on the patio and watched the sun set over the water. All in all it had been quite a lovely day, and Cloud had breathed a sigh of relief that it had gone so well. It was all quite a change from a month ago.

It had taken all of Leon's powers of persuasion to convince Cloud to move in with him. But Cloud couldn't deny that the move had been the best thing for him. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so happy. Had he _ever_ been this happy?

It hadn't all been plain sailing of course. There had been that thing with the money.

Leon had walked in, the morning after that day when Cloud had told him everything, and placed a worn brown paper bag into Cloud's lap. The blond had stared at him dumbfounded, his mind still not clear from sleep and pain and the tumultuous emotions that had been roiling in his head.

"What's this?" he had asked.

"Open it and see." Leon had replied cryptically, sitting himself on the edge of the bed, daring the wrath of the nurse who had told him off the night before for lying next to Cloud.

Cloud had un-wrapped the package and reached inside, pulling out a stack of crinkled bills and notes - his money. His money that Don Corneo's men had taken from him. He recognised the black mark he had put in each corner of the bills.

"Where did you get this?" Cloud had asked incredulously after a long moment's hesitation.

"Does it matter? I got it back for you. You said that was yours and that it meant something. That money made everything you've been through worth it." Leon had said, taking the bundle and turning it over. It was so small. "I could have just replaced it. I could have given you _my_ money. But it wouldn't have been the same. I didn't want all your pain and suffering to have been in vain, Cloud."

"But how?" Cloud had asked, still not able to take it in.

"That's not important." Leon had replied, and no matter how much Cloud had screamed and yelled and sulked and begged, Leon had never told him. Cloud would never know how Leon had called an anonymous person late at night. And Cloud would never know that Don Corneo was dead. Dead along with his disgusting, vile, pathetic excuse for human beings, mob of murderers and rapists!

One month later, Cloud lay beneath Leon as they made love for the first time since all of this had begun. No money had exchanged hands; they had both come to this willingly and Leon had wanted to make it last.

"I know you won't break. I'm trying to be romantic, dumbass." Leon snapped back.

Cloud snorted at the insult and wrapped his arms around his lover. His _lover_ he thought. He had never had one of those before. He inhaled deeply and pressed his face into Leon's neck.

"Well, be quiet then. You don't want to wake your sister do you?" Cloud rolled his hips, knowing Leon would have a hard time keeping in the groan that always happened when Cloud moved like that.

"Fucking tease." Leon muttered into Cloud's shoulder as he bit down softly.

The French doors were flung wide open, letting in the warm summer night air and the gentle sound of the ocean. His sister's house was so big, Leon had no doubt that they could swing from the actual chandelier that was in the centre of their ridiculously large bedroom, and still no one would hear. But he humoured his partner anyhow.

"I love you." he whispered.

Leon felt the young blond hold him a little tighter, his arms around his neck clench just a little harder as Leon rocked himself into him. How had he gone so long without this?

"I love you too." Cloud replied.

~Fin~


	2. Cloud Nine

**A/N: **I have had THE most fun writing these bits. They are the deleted scenes that I didn't have time to flesh out or couldn't make fit for the main story and I'm having so much fun, I may just carry on and write a few more. I have ideas coming out of my ears so there will be a couple more chapters posted soon. Keep a weather eye on the horizon!

I think I should have mentioned in chapter one that this is an AU. I've taken bits and pieces from FFVII and FFVIII as well as Kingdom Hearts. Places, names, people, it's a hodgepodge of stuff from all three games to make up my world. Cloud and Leon are of course as cannon as I can feasibly make them, although I rather like what I've created here.

All explicit adult content has been removed in accordance with this site's guidance rules. If you want to read the naughty bits, and believe me, you do, then hop on over to Ao3 or Dreamwidth, but please, leave me a kind word or two (or just a word or two) to let me know you're reading. I do love to hear from you.

Please enjoy, this was a sheer joy to write and I think I may be falling in love with this story just a little bit. I hope you guys do too.

**Disclaimer: **Please see chapter one. In addition, the chapter title and subsequent lyrics belong to Ben Howard.

* * *

**Cloud Nine**

'_Shadows on the water,_

_From a memory that turns inside,_

_From the last time I saw you happier,_

_Than I've seen you, than I've seen you in a long while._

_And all these faces, oh how they adore you,_

_With every blessing, with every strength of the storm._

_And it seems to me it all worked out so different,_

_Funny how distance and time they don't change at all._

_So may your worries, may your worries, _

_Never fall too loud._

_And may we stay here, may we stay here,_

_Happy in our own skin,_

_On the ninth cloud.'_

* * *

For someone who had never used a prostitute before, Leon was kicking the arse out of it. It had barely been three weeks since he had brought Cloud home for the first time and here they were again, for the third time in as many weeks, sat on Leon's kitchen floor in just their jeans, playing cards. Leon had cooked this time, if you could call it that – cheese on toast. A little something his mother had cooked for him when he was a boy and one of the only things he knew how to make without reducing his very expensive, highly underused kitchen to smoke and ashes. Leon had a bottle of beer sat next to him along with the deck of left over cards as he dealt them out to Cloud.

"Hit me." The younger man demanded, his eyes flicking to the cards on the hardwood floor and then to the cards in his hand. He sipped from a bottle of water, the thin leather bracelet around his wrist jangling with the two or three charms on it. "Again." he said as Leon threw down a two of clubs.

"You're gonna go bust." Leon informed him with a smirk. Cloud's only response was a coy little smile of his own.

Leon threw down another card and both of them winced and sucked in a breath when a ten of spades appeared, sending Cloud well over twenty one and bust.

"Ouch, you lose. Sorry Cloud, take 'em off" Leon gloated, pleased with himself as he threw down the rest of the deck. He contemplated the younger man sat in front of him, slightly adjacent, their game of pontoon between them as Cloud regarded him, eyes level and steady, filled with mirth and mischief. It made the butterflies in Leon's stomach flutter and stir uncomfortably.

"You know I don't wear any underwear." Cloud stated, his gaze never wavering from Leon's.

"I know." Leon confirmed, nodding his head, an eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

Cloud let out an amused little huff, his eyes sliding away to think about his predicament for a moment, before his grin widened and he reach up, unfastened the back of his earing and placed it on the pile of cards in the centre of the gangway. He leaned back against the cupboards, a smug little grin on his face at Leon's look of faux irritation.

"That's cheating." Leon said; voice silky and seductive.

"It's called being creative." Cloud corrected him "here, I'll throw this in for good measure." he added, throwing in his bracelet as well. As he reached out his hand to place the jewellery down, Leon caught his wrist, making the blond jump ever so slightly.

"I can't help but feel short changed." Leon purred; his grip tight but his eyes sparkled with mischief and humour. Cloud's wide eyes softened at Leon's words and he smirked again.

"I've never left a customer unsatisfied."

"There's a first time for everything I suppose." Leon replied, throwing Cloud's words from the first time they met back at him. Leon tugged on the younger man's wrist, swinging his own legs around until he was on his knees. Leon sat up, grabbing Cloud's ankle and slid the younger man to him, Cloud's jean clad butt sliding on the highly polished wood flooring. He scattered cards and jewellery and bottles of empty beer and water away as he was pulled towards the older man and Leon caught his lips in a hot and searing kiss as they met, the brunette's hand going to the back of Cloud's head to deepen the contact.

"Is that a complaint?" Cloud asked when they pulled apart, slightly breathless.

"That depends." Leon replied casually as he began to undo Cloud's jeans. He popped the button and ripped the zipper down, knocking over a glass bottle as he did. He ignored the light clatter and the small puddle it made and pushed his younger companion down to lie on the floor. Leon hovered above him, his own silver pendant dangling and swinging in between them as he slipped a hand into Cloud's trousers. He watched as Cloud's breath hitched; the small spark in the blonde's bright blue eyes ignited instantly as he began to stroke him. His own erection grew hard in seconds; just watching the younger man and his reactions was enough to send all kinds of stuff off in Leon's pants. A hard shudder raced down Leon's spine as Cloud arched his back, pushing his hips and dick into Leon's fist, the blonde's head thrown back slightly as a little moan escaped. Leon watched with fascination as Cloud's throat bobbed, the younger swallowing and licking his lips as his eyebrows creased over eyes that had slid shut in pleasure.

"On what?" Cloud moaned out, lifting his hips up when Leon instructed him so that he could slip his jeans off over his butt.

There was a long moment of silence as Leon leaned down and captured Cloud's mouth in a searing kiss. It was deep and long and it left Cloud fighting for breath when they broke away, white spots danced in front of his eyes.

"On whether you can keep from coming." Leon's breath was hot and moist against Cloud's cheek. It moved the hair at Cloud's temple and sent a delicious little chill down his back.

Cloud had spread his legs, allowing Leon to shuffle closer. Cloud began to undo the older man's jeans, switching between working the buttons and palming him through the material.

"What if I lose?" he asked, lips sliding against Leon's. He finally got the older man's trousers undone, tugging them as hard as he could to prise them off his hips.

"Then I get a free night." Leon said, pulling away and watching the glint in Cloud's eye at the challenge. He accentuated his point with a long firm stroke, making Cloud's face grow hot.

"And if I win?" Cloud panted, rolling his hips to get more friction.

"I'll take you to Esther City with me."

Cloud stopped his writhing and looked up at the man above him. His own hands went still and all mirth was gone from his lovely flushed face.

"What?" he asked, swallowing hard, his mouth suddenly dry.

"I have a business trip there this weekend. I want you to come with me." Leon stopped his ministrations for a moment, clearly puzzled by Cloud's reaction.

"Come with you… to Esther City?"

Leon nodded his head, trying to return to the sensual foreplay they had been enjoying moments ago. But Cloud stopped his hand, bracing his other against Leon's shoulder.

"You'd take me to Esther City?" Cloud asked again, clearly confused by something.

"Of course. Why?" Leon asked; his brows crinkled.

"Nothing… it's just… nothing." Cloud said, taking his hand off Leon's and allowing the older man to continue pleasuring him. It was hard to stay focused when Leon swiped his thumb over the sensitive head of Cloud's dick, making the blond suck in a breath and shudder.

"Why wouldn't I?" Leon asked, bending to bite and suck at Cloud's sweaty neck.

"No, it's just that… well… no one's ever taken me anywhere." Cloud confessed, his arm that had been braced against Leon's shoulder now hooked around his neck, pulling the older man down to him. "and Esther City… that's… oh fuck, Leon… don't stop doing that…" Cloud trailed off as the brunette flicked his wrist and changed the pace of his strokes. "That's like… one of the nicest cities in the world. I've always wanted to go." Cloud confessed eventually when he could get his words out. He felt Leon chuckle against his throat, the taller man softly biting on the muscle that joint shoulder to neck.

"You'd better win then, hadn't you?" Leon chuckled darkly.

* * *

Esther city was like nowhere Cloud had ever been before - ever. It was loud and tall, bustling and hectic. It was clean. Everywhere he looked were towered skyscrapers and glass buildings, majestic highways standing on towering blocks of concrete that took the noise and pollution of the cars up into the sky. Everyone was well dressed, suits and fancy shoes, woman wore hats. Hats!

Leon's town car rolled along the fancy boulevard, shops and cafes strolling past at a leisurely pace and Cloud couldn't stop staring. He didn't want to miss a thing. The wide pavement could hold street venders and chairs and tables from the fancy restaurants, with plenty of room left for people to stroll past and look at the tall glass window displays of fancy shoe shops, clothe stores and home wear departments.

Inside the car was air conditioned but the man on the radio assured Cloud that it was well over 30oc outside and the heat haze that drifted off the parked shimmering cars confirmed it.

Cloud hadn't even stepped foot outside the car yet, but he was already in love with Esther city.

""I have a meeting at two but we can grab an early dinner after if you want?" Leon asked him, reaching across the space between them on the backseat to take Cloud's hand. Cloud could barely tear his eyes away from the trawling pavements but he looked across at the finely dressed man next to him.

Leon was dressed in a crisp black suit, his stark white shirt and deep red tie just as pristine and neatly presented. There wasn't a thread or hair out of place and for a moment, Cloud forgot about the magnificent city outside and his chest constricted slightly. It had been doing that a lot lately around Leon – constricting like that.

Leon's gently storming grey eyes twinkled with a smile and Cloud stared dumbly at him for a moment, whatever had been on the tip of his tongue forgotten at the sight of his travelling companion.

"Ummm, yeah…dinner…yeah, that sounds good." He replied rather inelegantly.

Leon chuckled and reached into the top inside pocket of his jacket, his phone ringing and distracting him for the fourth time since they had touched down on the runway.

Flying, now that had been an experience! Cloud had never been so terrified in all his life. He didn't know whether he like flying.

Turning back to the strolling city, his eyes flicked past shining and exciting buildings and they drove the rest of the way to their hotel in relative silence, the comforting timbre of Leon's voice as he spoke on the phone lilting in the back on Cloud's mind.

Their hotel - not a pay by the hour motel but an actual proper, swear to god hotel. Cloud stood in front of the foyer, rooted to the expensive looking red carpet that was immaculately clean and covered with a canopy. Beyond the canopy he knew their hotel shot straight up into the air, its topmost windows barely visible from the ground. Had Cloud ever been in a building that high? What if he got scared of the height? That had happened to him before, climbing on the rocks outside his city of Midgar. He had climbed too high and got dizzy and then he found he couldn't move and was stuck there on that ledge, arms shaking and quivering with fear until his best friend Zack had gotten curious about what was taking him so long and come looking for him. It had been Zack that had saved him that day, coaxing him down and reassuring him every step of the way. God he missed Zack.

Cloud felt Leon at his side; his warm hand squeezing his reassuringly. He looked over and returned Leon's affectionate smile before following the man into the hotel.

Their room, if it could be called that, was vast and spacious. It was a series of rooms, interconnected by large wide open sliding doors of deep mahogany. Across the left side of the room where there should have been a wall was a window, floor to ceiling and ran the length of the suit. Dark organza curtains shaded most of the glaring sun out of the room while the tinted windows kept it private. The rooms were decorated in slate greys and charcoals and blacks and metallic and Cloud had never seen anything so extravagant. The whole complex was as big as the top most floor of his apartment building. The front door opened up into a living room and mini bar, large leather sofas angled to a huge flat screen TV nailed somehow in front of the windows that overlooked the city. Why anyone would want to watch TV when there was that out there, Cloud would never know. Cloud stood on the threshold, mouth agape at his plush surroundings as Leon paid the bellboy. He had to slightly nudge the blond out of the way so he could shut the door.

"What do you think?" Leon asked, amused at Cloud's incredulous expression.

Cloud turned in a wide circle, taking in the wall art and house plants and the soft carpet under his feet that seemed to spring him forwards when he walked. "I think… I'm in the wrong job." he answered, walking towards the window and cautiously looked out and down, testing his theory about heights. Yep, he was definitely still afraid. He took a few hurried steps back, the sudden feelings of vertigo and nausea churning in his gut.

"You don't like the view?" Leon asked; surprising Cloud slightly and making him jump.

"No, no it's not that… I just… don't do well with heights."

"Well, you're gonna hate what I have to show you in the bedroom then." Leon threw over his shoulder as he walked out of the room, sliding the huge doors open to reveal a large antechamber beyond. Cloud followed closely, he had a feeling if he didn't keep up then he'd get lost.

"That way's the bathroom." Leon said, pointing to his right as they passed through the middle room that was decorated with more couches and a small library. As they passed through another set of doors and into the bedroom, Cloud's mouth and stomach dropped away.

Over and above everything else that was large and grand and spending and lavish in the room was the huge balcony that stood just outside the slightly ajar French doors. He watched Leon walk towards them and fling them open, stepping across the threshold and out into the blazing afternoon sun that was somehow hotter and more intense this far up.

"Leon!" Cloud called to him nervously. The older man stopped and turned to regard his companion who was still stood in the bedroom, anxiously clutching his travel bag in his hands.

"It's okay, Cloud. I promise." Leon tried to reassure him, holding his hand out to beckon his uneasy guest.

"I told you, I don't like heights." Cloud tried to implore, but it seemed Leon was having none of it as he still held his hand out; impassive to Cloud's subtle begging to skip the tour of the balcony. Cloud sighed loudly, dropping his bag and clenching his fists against the churning, sickening feelings in his stomach. He walked as steadily over to Leon as he could, keeping his eyes forward and locked on the older brunette, careful not to let his gaze slip to the sides and down. He took Leon's hand and the older man smiled at him in a 'see, it's not so bad' kind of way and Cloud had never felt more like kicking him in the nuts.

Leon turned sharply then and guided him over to the right where Cloud had failed to notice a set of stairs that led up even higher. "Errrr, Leon… where are we…"

"Just, trust me." was Leon's only reply and Cloud felt himself tilt slightly. He could see out of his peripheral vision how far away the ground was and it made his knees wobble uncomfortably. He planted his right shoulder against the wall, his left hand still clutched in Leon's as he led him up the stairs and up on to a private roof.

Into the decking that covered the roof was built a small swimming pool, two deck chairs with towels already laid out on them sat around it; a table with a bucket of champagne under a parasol to keep the heat from melting the ice.

"Holy shit!" Cloud gasped, his fear completely forgotten now that he was away from the edge. He felt Leon's arms encircle him and the older man start to kiss his neck but Cloud was unable to draw his eyes from the amazing sight before him. "Is that a fricking helicopter?" he almost shouted, pointing up onto a second, higher roof where the sleek black machine stood shimmering in the blazing sun.

"umhmmm." Leon purred into his ear, nibbling suggestively on his lobe.

"I am definitely in the wrong business." Cloud whistled lowly to himself, not in the least bit distracted from what Leon's hands were doing with his belt and zipper. He was here on business as well, after all. "You don't have a meeting to go to?" Cloud asked, tilting his head to the side to allow Leon better access.

"It can wait." was the sultry brunette's only reply before his deft hands found their way in to Cloud's trousers. Cloud was just about to ask where exactly Leon planned on having this little pre meeting- meeting when he was unceremoniously pushed into the pool.

He came up spluttering and coughing and was about to yell and scream at the older man when Leon began to strip his jacket and shirt off. Cloud watched as the older man toed his shoes off, unbuckling his belt as he went, skimming his trousers down his thighs and then stood at the edge of the pool, looking down at a thoroughly wet and pissed off Cloud, who was staring, rather open mouthed back up at him. Leon dived in, the angle and planes of his body smoothly entering the water and Cloud had to remind himself to swallow. He closed his mouth as well for good measure and was relatively calm and composed by the time Leon swam up to him.

"Jerk." was his only reply to a rather smug looking Leon.

Cloud had never been fucked in a pool before, but he surmised, it was something he could get used to very, very quickly.

* * *

'_Cold to every warning,_

_Oh these ships that passed through, years before._

_And bolder now, than a brand new morning,_

_With the sun on your face, the bruise and the breaks of these careless arms._

_So hold your body, hold your body,_

_Strong in these winds that blind._

_And may I find you, may we sit together when we're grey and old,_

_On cloud nine._

_This life will move you with every step outside,_

_It's alright, it's alright,_

_My arms are open wide for you._

_This life will move you as graceful as the tide._

_It's alright, it's alright,_

_Loosen the fears that bind you,_

_Loosen the fears that bind you.'_

_Cloud Nine – Ben Howard._


	3. Dinner Date

**A/N: **Here's chapter three. As usual, all explicit content has been removed. If you wanna read that, then hop on over to Dreamwidth or Ao3.

And as per usual, I hope you enjoy this, because I'm loving writing it.

**Disclaimer: **Please see chapter one.

The heat of Esther city was the first thing that struck Cloud later that day as he left the hotel. He stepped out onto the pavement, hands in pockets and looked left then right. Which way? He had the rest of the afternoon to do as he pleased. Leon had left only fifteen minutes ago, suit back in place and immaculate as ever.

"There's a company credit card on the desk." he had said strolling through the study, picking up his phone and wallet from the table by the bookcase. Cloud had stood behind him, watching him organise himself to leave, stood only in a towel from their rather refreshing shower.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked, standing up straight now.

Leon turned to look at him "no." he answered plainly. He walked up to the blond, brushing back damp bangs from his face before running his thumb carefully and quite unconsciously along his jaw line. "I've brought you here as my guest." The taller man said softly "You shouldn't have to worry about a thing while you're here." He had lent down to kiss him. Cloud had just stared back, incredulous.

"Go out, have some fun. I'll be back this evening and we'll have dinner." And with that, Leon had left.

Cloud chose left and began to stroll down the pavement his head constantly swivelling this way and that to take in the huge and imposing city. His thoughts before long had turned back to Leon. Was he an idiot for not questioning a man that seemed to have endless money and resources? Did he really need to question him? He was only here for one thing after all. Whatever Leon did for a living was really none of his business. Still, Cloud couldn't help the feeling that the more time he spent with the older, incredibly, insanely attractive man, the more he was kidding himself. It was almost as if the more time they spent together the more of a glaring uncomfortable, ridiculous oddity this unspoken rule between them became. And in reality it felt odd. It felt odd to spend so much time with someone and still know so little about them. He liked Leon. He liked him a lot. He liked him _a lot _a lot. Would all that change if he knew the truth? Cloud shuddered at the thought. That was one thing that would never happen he promised himself.

Cloud pulled the map out of his pocket and knew instantly what he should do. He scanned the paper, looking for the symbol that would indicate the museum.

It wasn't something that Cloud was particularly proud of, but he had never really finished school. Finished was an understatement as well. He had barely attended school never mind finished it. However that didn't mean that Cloud had hated it. Quite the contrary, Cloud had loved school. When he could get there that was. As a result, Cloud had taken his education wherever he could find it. It was an uncomfortable and embarrassing reality that it hadn't been an easy thing. Reading didn't come as naturally to him as it did for other people and although he tried, nothing had ever been simple for Cloud.

After a few frustrating moments he eventually found the symbol and set off in the direction he knew the building would be. Finding his way around a large and confusing city was something Cloud had never had a problem with.

Museums, in Clouds opinion, were the best and most underutilised resource for information. He loved them. His own museum back in Hollow Bastion was a pathetic ramshackle building compared to the grand neoclassical design stood majestically in front of him. He stood on the large wide steps for a moment or two just gaping at the sheer size of it. He had even had to stop a few people just to make sure that this was the right place.

"This is just the history museum, there's a science museum round the block and a natural history museum down by the river." The stranger had informed him. Cloud had nodded, like he knew the difference between a history and a natural history museum and looked back at the gigantic building. He was going to need a lot longer than a few hours.

For some reason, Cloud had felt guilt handing over the credit card that Leon had given him as he paid the entrance fee. He had no reason to be he thought to himself, it wasn't like he was stealing anything. Still it wasn't like he had done anything to earn this money either. Cloud was completely unaccustomed to receiving anything for nothing. Still he didn't let the feeling interfere with his afternoon as he leisurely strolled through the gigantic halls laden with exhibit after exhibit. He took his time, careful to read everything he could, picking up leaflet after leaflet and information booklets chock full of the things he didn't have time to stand around and try and decipher. He wanted to get to the war exhibit as quickly as he could.

Cloud didn't even realise the time as he came out the other end at the gift shop. He was late.

By the time he was back at the hotel it was dark. He raced into the foyer and considered taking the stairs before remembering that their apartment was on the top floor and just exactly how high the hotel was. As the elevator doors pinged open on their private floor, Cloud almost crashed head long into Leon.

"Where have you been?" Leon asked after taking Cloud's appearance. He had a slight smirk on his face, noticing the bag Cloud carried and the 'I love Esther City' memorabilia he had picked up along the way.

"Shit, sorry Leon. I lost track of time. I was at the museum. Fuck, I've never seen anything so big, it took me all afternoon just to get round it and there's still more to see. I didn't mean to be so late, I'm so sorry. I haven't ruined your dinner plans have I?" Cloud rattled off, out of breath from running.

"Whoa, calm down Cloud. Of course you haven't ruined my plans. I was just worried about you is all. I'm glad you had a good time." Leon smiled, turning back to their rooms. "I was just going to send someone out to look for you."

"You were?"

"Of course, I was worried. And since you don't have a phone…" Leon trailed off, not wanting to rub something so seemingly trivial in Cloud's face. It might not have been anything for Leon to have a phone, or even six of them, but Cloud obviously didn't have the money for one. "Anyway, come and grab a shower, I've got something for you."

Cloud followed Leon into the apartments, nudging the door shut behind him. "I've got something for you too." He said, placing his bags on the leather sofa. Leon turned to regard him, a curious and unexpected expression on his face.

"Really, something for me?"

Cloud pulled a small parcel wrapped in clear plastic out of his bag and handed it over to Leon, who turned it over, looking at it with a pleased little smile on his face.

"It's not anything fancy; I thought you could put it on your desk or something." Cloud said, rather embarrassed now that he had actually given it to him. He had thought while in the gift shop how he wanted to get something for Leon in return for all that he had done for him. He knew Leon had most things, how could you have so much money and not? But Cloud had thought the mug with the little flag sticking out of it had been cute. The 'I love Esther City' printed on the side of it serving as a reminder of their trip.

"I love it." Leon ceased Cloud's shy and nervous worrying of his lip with a quick and tender kiss.

"Really?" Cloud asked, releasing the breath he had been holding.

"Really." Leon kissed him again, cupping the man's jaw gently with his fingers, the touch reminiscent of a lover and altogether something far too intimate for the kind of relationship they were supposed to have. Cloud was shaken slightly as Leon pulled back. He had never been kissed like that before, but the worrying part was he wanted Leon to do it again. A moment passed between the two as they both realised that something unspoken had happened and Leon retracted his touch, stepping away awkwardly, putting distance he didn't want between him and his beautiful companion.

"Come with me." He said huskily, turning on his heel and heading off into the bedroom. Cloud followed a step or two behind, unconsciously licking his lips and tasting where Leon had kissed him.

In the bedroom, laid out on the bed was a dark, charcoal grey suit. A crisp white shirt sat beside it and on top of that, a small box inlaid with silver swirling script.

"This is for you." Leon said, gesturing to the suit. "I wanted you to have something nice to wear this evening." He watched as Cloud ran his fingers over the fine thread of the jacket, his eyes wide. He touched the material reverently, as if he had never seen anything so precious before.

"Leon, I can't accept this." He said finally, his voice a whisper.

"Why not?" Leon asked, picking up the little box that sat on the shirt.

"It's too much. I haven't done anything to earn it. I don't have anything to give you that could possibly be enough." Cloud said, feeling utterly and completely ridiculous for handing over such a pathetic piece of tat like the mug. What the fuck had he been thinking? He silently admonished himself, turning pink as he thought of how stupid he must have looked to Leon, the last person who he wanted to embarrass himself in front of.

"I didn't buy you that suit because I wanted something from you, Cloud. That's not what gifts are for." Leon said, stepping close and reaching out to turn Cloud's face towards him. Cloud stepped back, not wanting Leon to be so close to him now. He hardly felt worthy.

"You don't understand." Cloud replied, brows crinkled and face turned down and away as if ashamed.

"I don't want this to be a big thing, Cloud. I just wanted to do something nice for you." Leon explained, unsure what to do with himself, his hand that was clasped around the little box was hidden slightly behind his back.

How could Cloud explain it without sounding ungrateful? There would always be this between them and that suit was the perfect symbol of their great divide. Leon would always have more money than Cloud could ever dream of, and Cloud would always feel inadequate. It made him feel silly and worthless. It made him feel like the whore that he was. And all of that, he told himself, was completely beside the point. He was a whore. Leon was rich. These were the two things that would never change. Why any of this should bother him now, after all this time he would never know. He shook his head and mentally scolded himself. Get a grip Strife!

"I'm sorry, Leon. I don't mean to sound so ungrateful. It's just… no one's ever done anything like this for me before. It feels weird." He said, settling for a choice of words that wouldn't highlight too brightly, their glaring differences.

"That's a shame, because you look incredibly cute when you're surprised." Leon said, pulling the small box from behind him and opening it up.

Puzzled for a moment, Cloud's brows remained crinkled as Leon pulled out a small charm and reached out for Cloud's wrist. It finally dawned on him what Leon had bought for him as the older man unhooked his leather bracelet.

Sliding the charm onto the band, Leon looked at Cloud's face, hoping that it wouldn't be too much. He hoped against hope that Cloud could just accept this.

Cloud looked incredulous, the very look that Leon loved so much as he saw what Leon had bought him. There, glittering on his cheap tatty leather bracelet next to the tawdry beaten charms that he had picked up at a flea market on his way to Hollow Bastion all those years ago, was a silver wolfs head. An exact replica of the one that rested in his ear – the one his mother had gotten him on his 7th birthday right before she died.

It took a few moments for the enormity to fully hit him. Unlike the suit, this was different. This didn't make him feel worthless. This made him feel… strange. This made his chest feel tight and his eyes begin to itch. His face felt hot and flushed and his throat had suddenly gone extremely dry. This was personal.

"How… where…" he began to stutter, his words and thoughts ineloquent.

"I had it made." Leon explained, clasping the bracelet and running his fingers tenderly over Cloud's wrist. Cloud looked up at him then, eyes wide with unspoken and unexplainable emotions.

"Why?" He just couldn't understand. He'd never be able to understand why people did unselfish things for other people. He'd never be able to grasp why people where nice to each other, without expecting something insidious in exchange.

"Because I wanted to." Leon replied, his answer completely and woefully inadequate and yet so very simply true.

* * *

Cloud emerged from the bathroom a while later, and Leon's jaw hit the floor. He had no doubt that Cloud was an incredibly attractive man. Dressed in anything. A bin bag would have looked good on the younger man but the sight of Cloud in a suit sent shooting jolts of pleasure straight to Leon's cock. He shone, literally - the light from the bathroom behind him fracturing and coruscating around his silhouette. Leon sat dumbfounded at his desk, computer completely forgotten as he watched Cloud fidget and shuffle uncomfortably.

Leon stood, never taking his eyes from the delicious sight before him. He walked over to Cloud, half contemplating ripping the expensive designer suit off him and dirtying him up again. Dinner be damned!

"Wow!" he said, taking Cloud's hand and turning him around, slowly.

Cloud came to a stop in front of him again; face hot with embarrassment and clearly uncomfortable with how good he looked.

"I… I didn't know how to do this." He admitted in a small voice holding up the balled up tie in front of him.

A thought struck Leon then and his brows creased with an uncomfortable realisation. There was such a class divide between himself and the tragically beautiful man in front of him. He had no idea what kind of a life Cloud had lived up until they had met, but it obviously hadn't involved suits and ties and money and anything that Leon was used to. He felt bad. Not because Cloud had nothing, but because he had everything and he expected Cloud to be able to fit in and keep up, when the truth was, he couldn't even work his tie. He was such a thoughtless ass. He took the item from Cloud's hands and tossed it on to the nearest chair, reaching up to take his own off, he threw that the same way.

"We'll go smart casual." Leon responded, taking Cloud's hand and leading him to the door.

* * *

Dinner had been an event unlike anything Cloud had ever experienced. Just another state of affairs in a long line of situations that Cloud was humiliatingly unprepared for. None the less, he had loved every second of it. He'd never even heard of most of the things on the menu and had to trust in Leon's judgement to pick something for him. He hadn't even known that you were supposed to have more than one set of knives and forks on the table and the idea of a salad fork had left him chuckling to himself for a good few moments. Why would a salad need a fork all of its own?

The ride back to the hotel was quiet and comfortable, the bright and classy lights of Esther City flashing past them as they drove.

"Thanks for dinner, Leon." Cloud said for the billionth time, Leon just smiled and laughed quietly to himself.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. So, how are you liking Esther City?" Leon asked him, turning from the passing city to stare at Cloud.

"It's amazing. I love it." Cloud said enthusiastically. "I've never seen anything like it in my whole life. I never thought I'd come here."

"How come you know so much about it? I've never met anyone who knows so much." Leon asked; referring to Cloud's incessant talking over dinner. He hadn't minded, it was nice to hear about something other than work, and it was even nicer to hear Cloud talk. It seemed that whenever the younger man opened his mouth he always had smoothing interesting to say. He never wasted words with idle chatter and pointless talk. He liked that about him very much.

"I pick things up here and there. I like museums and libraries and stuff like that." Cloud responded. "It's easy to learn stuff when you're interested." He noted, self-consciously rubbing his thumb over an imaginary stain on his knee.

Leon nodded in understanding, reaching across to take Cloud's hand and stop the uncomfortable fidgeting. He didn't want to make Cloud feel awkward.

Their driver pulled up in front of their hotel and Leon tugged at Cloud's arm to follow him as he climbed out of the car. Finally alone in the lift, Leon stood behind Cloud and wrapped his arms around his waist, nuzzling his nose against his ear.

"Do you have any idea how maddeningly hot you've looked all night?" he purred, circling his hands over slim hips, tugging at the shirt to pull it free.

Now they were back in familiar territory, Cloud relaxed, his signature coy little smile back in place as he let Leon's hands into his trousers. He pushed his backside into Leon's crotch, rubbing it slowly over his growing erection.

"I haven't been able to think of anything else apart from what you look like under this." Leon said, lifting the hem of Cloud's shirt up revealing the beginnings of smooth, taught pale abs underneath. "It's been incredibly distracting." Leon let the tips of his fingers skim Cloud's belt, his skin hot to the touch as he brushed against Cloud's belly. Cloud let his head fall back against Leon's shoulder, leaving his throat open for Leon to start kissing him. With one hand inside his trousers and the other skimming the skin above his belt Cloud let out a low moan and a little rush of air as he reached round and grabbed Leon's buttocks, using the leverage to grind himself harder into the older man.

They shared a quick, knowing smirk, the golden doors sliding open as they finally came to their floor. As they stumbled out of the lift, all arms and lips as they kissed fiercely, Leon began to wonder exactly what he had gotten himself into. He didn't think he'd ever be able to stop doing this with Cloud.

They struggled to open the door and between the lift, the shower and the bedroom they fucked twice more.

Later, as they both lay in bed completely sated, Leon still buried inside Cloud as he brushed pale silky bangs from the younger man's forehead, Cloud had whispered to him.

"What are we doing?"

Leon had looked down at him then, his storming grey eyes bright with replete pleasure, and his face flushed and hot. Cloud stared back at him, eyes uncertain and shining with apprehension and slight fear. Cloud knew. Cloud knew as well as Leon did that they were getting into something here - something that maybe neither of them would be able to come back from. Cloud had never experienced anything like it before – couldn't possibly know what the word for it was. Leon however… Leon thought he knew. The thought sent dreadful chills up his spine as he tenderly stroked his thumb over Cloud's bottom lip. He shifted his hips, pulling out of the younger man and settled between his legs.

"I don't know." He confessed truthfully.

They fell asleep, Cloud wrapped in Leon's arms and the older man had no idea what he was going to do. He knew he didn't want to stop seeing the younger man, but couldn't deny the glaring reality of their situation.

Leon knew, they were in big trouble.

tbc~


	4. No Light, No Light

A/N: I've decided that this story is now completed, and that it doesn't require the extra chapter. I was writing it and just thought to myself, ya know what? It doesn't add anything. We already know what happens to Cloud and Leon because of the first chapter, so why write it again? So there we have it. Still, I have ideas for a sequel if anyone is interested?

As usual, naughty version is over on Ao3 and Dreamwidth. Feedback is appreciated, so don't be afraid to tell me what you think. I shall be completing a final edit of this story soon. It will pull all the loose ends together and make the story feel a bit more like it was supposed to be written as a multi chapter, rather than me just adding in bits and pieces as they've come to me.

Love to everyone that has reviewed, followed, added and just enjoyed this fic. You guys are awesome!

* * *

**No Light, No Light.**

'_You are the hole in my head, _

_You are the space in my bed_

_You are the silence in between _

_What I thought and what I said_

_You are the night time fear,_

_You are the morning when it's clear_

_Where it's over you're the start,_

_You're my head and you're my heart._

_No light, no light in your bright blue eyes_

_I never knew day light could be so violent._

_A revelation in the light of day,_

_You can't choose what stays and what fades away._

_And I'd do anything to make you stay._

_No light, no light,_

_Tell me what you want me to say.'_

_No light not light – Florence and the Machine_

* * *

The trip back to Hollow Bastion had been quiet to say the least, and downright awkward to say the most. Something unspoken and strong had passed between the two men that weekend and neither knew how to navigate the strange and tidal feelings that were beginning to emerge.

To Leon, it seemed that maybe a boundary had been crossed. The exact parameters of their relationship had somehow been skewed and tampered with and he had no idea how to reset them.

To Cloud, it appeared as confusing and scary as navigating stormy waters in the dead of night. This wasn't supposed to happen – whatever _this_ was. He was supposed to fuck, get paid and then go home. So why did the idea of being paid to have sex with Leon fill him with self-loathing and uncertainty? Why did it make him feel bad? He was a whore. He was supposed to be a professional. Why the hell was this happening to him? Why now, why Leon? What made this man different – special?

The ambiguous feelings that filled Cloud coupled with the strong, undeniably familiar feelings of self-hate caused his head to spin and his mood to darken, and there was only one thing he was certain of as they touched down on the runway of HB Terminal one. He had to stop seeing Leon. It wasn't right that his feelings should feel so muddied by a client. It wasn't right that he should feel anything with a client, good or bad, and there was one thing that was unequivocal when it came to the enigmatic older man. He made Cloud feel things.

The drive back to Cloud's apartment was filled with a tense and ominous silence. Leon would have been a fool not to notice his companion's troubled frown and dark disposition. A knot had formed in his throat at their impending farewell.

Leon pulled up in front of the rundown, desolate apartment building and turned timorously to Cloud, who was sat eyes fixed and hard ahead. The blonde's jaw had set into a firm line, his lips rigid and down turned.

"I had a great time this weekend." Leon ventured; his voice as casual as he could possibly make it, although some of his trepidation shone through.

Cloud nodded stiffly "Me too" his voice cold and aching with his troubled emotions.

"I'd like to see you again, maybe Friday…" Leon trailed off as Cloud blew a frustrated sigh through his nose and turned his head away to look through his window. "What? Cloud, what is it?" Leon asked, not wanting to hear what he knew was coming next.

Cloud had begun to fidget; his fingers tapping and bouncing on his jittery knee.

"I don't… I don't think that's such a good idea, do you, Leon?" he stammered slightly, his voice beginning to quiver. He had no idea why the thought of not seeing Leon anymore should bring a lump to his throat, but this was _exactly_ the reason he needed to stop seeing him!

"What do you mean?" Leon asked, knowing the answer anyway.

Cloud turned to him, his eyes imploring Leon, begging him not to make this too hard.

"You know why." He replied, voice quiet and anguished. Something more passed between the two again, their unspoken language relaying what they both could not.

And Leon couldn't argue – not really. Not unless he wanted to be the one that gave words to whatever this was between them. So he just nodded his head, turning to look out of his own window, fighting with the restricting feeling in the back of his throat and the hammering of his heart against his rib cage. "Sure" he whispered, breathing out heavily, once, to steady himself. It didn't work. He still felt like he was falling.

"I'm sorry Leon." Cloud tried; but even he had to admit the sentiment felt hollow and silly in the dense atmosphere.

Leon turned back to him, his face soft and his eyes full of uncomfortable emotions that made Cloud feel strange and unnameable things. The older man smiled a small, sad smile and reached across to place a tender kiss to Cloud's impassive lips. He felt the brunette linger just a fraction too long, his thumb just an inch too delicate against his jaw line and the brush of his nose against Cloud's just a touch too personal.

"Don't be."

And Cloud felt a pain unlike any other erupt in the centre of his chest. He felt it bleed outwards and fill his whole body, making his limbs heavy and his breathing hard. He climbed out of the car slowly, like it took him all of his strength and will power. Without looking back he walked into his apartment building and shut the door, not wanting to see Leon drive off, or alternatively still be there when he turned around. Either option felt unbearable to him. Cloud had never felt this emptiness inside of him before. Well… not this kind anyway.

* * *

It was well over three weeks before Cloud turned up on Leon's doorstep again. In that time Leon felt like the world had somehow become a little darker. Everything was tainted with a slight shadow and nothing seemed as bright as it once had. Even on sunny days. He kicked himself for his ridiculous schoolgirl notions and malign thoughts. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He hadn't planned on going out that night and finding himself a hooker to fall in love with, but fucking hell, it had damned well happened anyway. And he had no doubt that Cloud had no idea what the hell was going on. The look in his eyes as they had fucked that last night in Esther City told him the young man was scared and confused. And Cloud had done the only thing anyone would have done in his situation. He had run.

The night Cloud came back was warm and sticky; the humidity close and oppressive. Leon had thrown open all of his windows and skylights, letting in as much of the dusky sunset and moist summer heat as he could. There were the beginnings of a storm on the air and it tasted electric and tangy. Leon loved these times. He sat at his desk, bottle of beer in hand and watched the dying amber sun over the tops of the roofs, its ochre rays breaking through the violet storm clouds and bleeding the evening fiery red.

At the first rumblings of thunder, there was a knock at the door. Leon put his bottle on the desk, standing up and sighing heavily, his shoulders weighed down with weeks of morbid depression.

He dragged his bare feet to the door and swung it open, his heart suddenly thudding back into life after weeks of hibernation at the sight of the young blond stood coyly on the other side.

Cloud had his hands in his pockets, head bent low to hide a bruise on his cheek. His eyes were full of apprehension and trepidation as he stood, waiting to see. He wanted to know if Leon would be glad to see him.

When Cloud didn't see any hostility on the older man's face, he took his chance and threw himself across the threshold, wrapping his arms around the older man and kissed him hard. All of his relief and pain evident in sagging shoulders as he felt Leon wrap his own arms around him.

Leon dragged him into the apartment and closed the door with his foot, never breaking contact with the younger man, their kiss heated and fiery. He backed the blond up, his butt hitting the edge of the desk just to the right of the door and the sound of Leon's bottle of beer crashing to the floor broke them apart. They looked down at the spillage, uncomprehending for a moment as the frothy mess spread out on the hard wood floor.

"Shit, sorry Leon." Cloud said, turning to find something to clean it up with.

"Forget about it. What happened to your face? Why are you here?" Leon asked; turning the blond back to him and cupping his cheek, examining the bruise under the younger man's left eye.

"Oh, hazards of the job. You know." Cloud tried to laugh it off, an obvious attempt to remain blasé but he failed miserably. Cloud was clearly shaken.

"What happened?" Leon's tone was serious and threatening, although Cloud never once felt like it was aimed at him.

"Nothing, just some dick who stepped over the line. It happens from time to time. Like I said: occupational hazard." Cloud was collecting himself now; his hands that were also bruised across the knuckles began to wring themselves in front of him. At Leon's murderous stare he tried harder to appear impassive. "Honestly Leon, I dealt with him. I'm fine, I promise."

Leon didn't look convinced, so Cloud kissed him again. As a distraction, it worked incredibly well. After a good few moments of fierce kisses that turned deep and heated, Cloud pulled away, his hands tightening slightly around the back of Leon's neck.

"What are you doing here?" Leon repeated his earlier question, only half bothered about the answer, just as long as Cloud was there with him. There was a long pause as Cloud thought about his answer, his eyes shifting from guilty to defiant to coy and then finally back to uncertain.

"I just… I just wanted to see you. I thought maybe… we could… If you still wanted to…" Cloud trailed off, unsure about the older man and his stony silence. Had he made a terrible mistake?

Leon regarded the man in his arms - the man that he had literally ached for weeks for. He thought of the look in the younger man's eyes the last night in Esther City and then right before he had gotten out of his car. He remembered the confusion he had found there. Cloud had no idea what was happening between them, despite how obvious it was to Leon. And he looked into Cloud's eyes now and saw that same vulnerability. He also saw a chance; a chance to return to zero – to reset the parameters of their relationship back to what they had been when they had first met. Enough time had passed between Esther and now for it to be possible. If they could forget what had happened that weekend then it was possible that they could return to their easy agreement.

Leon knew he was kidding himself, but he jumped headlong into it anyway. He answered Cloud's hesitant question with a brutal kiss. He had starved himself of this man for weeks and now he was back in his arms, silent affirmation once again between them. It was simply and altogether as much as he could possibly hope for. He'd take it. He'd take it with both arms and his whole fractured heart.

Cloud was back, but only under the old rules. In the morning, he would pay him – handing over the cash like some sinister, dirty old man, and Cloud would leave.

But Leon reasoned that if it was the only way then he would take all the feelings of depravity in the world if it meant he got to lie there with Cloud in his arms. He didn't care how pathetic that made him.

And Cloud played his part well. Returning to the stoic professional, denying and pushing down whatever confusing feelings had been plaguing him and pretended like it didn't matter.

* * *

Five more weeks had passed. Five more weeks of meetings filled with intense confusing sex, covert looks of longing and denied feelings.

It was a Saturday when Leon got the call that made his guts freeze and drop away.

"Leon?"

"Cloud!... what's wrong?" he had asked, knowing instantly the sound of his voice was off, distant and scared.

"I… I'm in trouble. I need your help."

Leon turned from his office floor to ceiling window, his skin prickling with dread, his face growing pale. He clutched the phone to his ear a little tighter, his two business associates sat across his desk completely forgotten about.

"Where are you?"

"That doesn't matter, just… I need you to…" the line went dead for a few seconds and Leon's heart skipped several beats.

"Cloud!" he called down the phone, eyes wide with panic. Muffled noises could be heard from the other end and after a few seconds a male voice began to talk. It wasn't Cloud.

"Your little whore has been a very, very naught boy."

Tbc -


End file.
